Higher
by AquaGuardian
Summary: When Shikamaru is basically forced into going out on a date with Temari, things get pretty damn wierd. Especially with Ino and Chouji spying on them the whole time. A little OOC-ness.
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm back, and after having no internet for so long, I think it best that I write up a new Naruto story for you guys. I haven't written one for quite some time, so I think it'd be nice to go back to good old fashioned anime for a while. So how about a Shika-Tema fic for you guys? Enjoy.**_

Shikamaru Nara: Konoha's smartest, and not to mention dreamy (to some of the girls), strategist. When he's not busy with planning new strategies against his opponents in Go, he's on missions, or he's on the roof of the tallest buliding watching the clouds.

Which was what our dear Shadow-possessor is doing right about now.

Shikamaru sighed and flicked his tongue across the end of the blade of grass he had in his mouth.

"Man, someone had better give me a mission soon. If they don't, I'm gonna have to resort to drastic measures." he said to himself, watching a funky cloud fly overhead.

"Hm?" Really, funky wasn't the word for it. More like a slice of pie with a few markings on it.

"Oh. Greeaat." he said, and watched the shape come closer and closer to him.

"Hey, what's going on Crybaby?" Temari was sitting on her fan, a smug smile on her face as she gently touched down on the roof beside Shikamaru.

"Nothing. Absolutley, positively, freaking nothing." Shikamaru said, looking back up at the clouds.

"Aww..." Temari stood and dusted herself off.

"Listen. I'm here to ask you something simple." she said. Shikamaru sighed,.

"What." he asked, agitated.

"Ok, then. I'm going to ask you whether or not you want to take me out." she said. Shikamaru turned to look up at Temari. She was standing over him, arms folded over her chest.

"I'd love to, but remember what happened last time?" Temari sighed and rubbed her temples

"No, not 'Take me out' like beat me to a freaking bloody pulp, but 'Take me out' as in 'Take me out to dinner and kiss me goodnight' 'Take me out'." Shikamaru blinked.

"Uh...huuuh?!" Temari laughed.

"You should see your face right now, it's priceless." she said. Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak, but closed it because he couldn't quite get anything to come out.

"Weeeelllllllll?" Temari bent down and batted her eyelashes.

"Uh...I...er...I...w-well...I guess-"

"Goooood, I'll be at the Konoha Inn, come find me around six, and don't be late, or I'm going to cut that beautiful off your head, got it?" she said, smirking as she patted Shikamaru's head.

"See you later, Shika-kun!" Temari stepped on her fan and she flew off, laughing. Shikamaru's eye twitched.

"My...MY HAIR?!" he said, grabbing it.

Shikamaru thumped his head against the tabletop for the fourth time.

"Geez, Shikamaru, lighten up." Chouji said, taking a bite out of his meat sandwich.

"You don't understand, Chouji...this woman...she's INSANE...!" Shikamaru said. Ino, who was looking as if her interest was piqued, raised an eyebrow.

"Do you even know how to properly treat a girl on a date? Or did you pick up your father's manners?" Ino asked.

"I don't know...I just sort of...do stuff and hope it works out?" Ino shook her head, smirking.

"It's sad...you're smarter than Tsunade-sama, but when it comes to date etiquette..." Ino popped her knuckles.

"Okay, I'm going to put you through date training!" she said. Shikamaru's eye twitched.

"Uh...date...training??"

Shikamaru, though not exactly thrilled with the idea of being tought date etiquette by his own teammate, showed up at Ino's home two hours before Shikamaru's date was supposed to begin.

"Oh, good, you didn't run away!" Ino said, opening the door and letting Shikamaru in. Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked through.

"Ok, now that you're here, let's get you looking good." Ino grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and practically drgged him up the stairs.

"Ow...Geez, Ino, ease up, would ya?"

"No siree! You have to toughen up, especially since you're dating a tomboy like Temari." Ino said. They walked into her room, where Shikamaru was sat down at her desk.

"Ok, let's see..." Ino's eyes travelled from Shikamaru's face to his hair.

"Let's do something with your hair first." Ino gently pulled the thin hair tie out of Shikamaru's hair.

"Oh my..." Shikamaru's hair curtained down around his face.

"...Gee, thanks, Ino..." Shikamaru swept the hair back behind his ears.

"Heh. you wouldn't have any problems passing for a kunoichi with hair like this." Ino said. Shikamaru sighed and shut himself inside of him, choosing to just let Ino do the work and not argue with her.

"There..." Ino said, stepping back from Shikamaru. Shikamaru turned to face the mirror.

"Holy...Whoa..." Shikamaru was now dressed in black jeans and a long-sleeve tee, his vest over it. His hair was tied into a tail, though it was hung low enough to run down his neck and onto his back. He was still wearing his sandals.

"Not too much of a change, but enough to make you look less...lazy, I guess." Ino said, admiring her work.

"Hm. Thanks. I guess." Ino patted him on the shoulder.

"You're welcome."

Well...let's see..." Ino was pacing in front of Shikamaru, thinking. Shikamaru had closed his eyes and was attempting to force time forward, though he knew that it was impossible to do so.

"Hmm...Well, you usually deal with people on a regular basis, right?" Shikamaru opened his eyes.

"Yeah."

"And you're normally pretty polite right?"

"Of course. If I weren't, then we'd have lost allies by now." Ino nodded.

"Right. But have you even kissed anyone?" Shikamaru's eyes widened a little.

"What?" Ino sighed.

"I'll take that as a no." Ino sat down next to Shikamaru.

"Ok, this is going to be a little wierd, but...kiss me." Ino said, pointing at her lips. Shikamaru stared at his teammate.

"...right..." Shikamaru, seeing that he had no choice, leaned in and kissed Ino. Ino kissed back, though not hard enough to equal that of a normal lover. Shikamaru broke the kiss, and, now that he noticed it, felt his heart beating hard.

"Not bad...Chaste, yes, but gentle enough to say 'I like you, but I'm waiting for you to make the next move'." Ino said, smiling. Shikamaru coughed.

"Yeah, right, thanks."

"Wel...If I had to decide, I think you're ready to take her on. Go get 'er, Shikamaru!" she said, punching Shikamaru's arm.

Shikamaru waited outside the Konoha Inn, hands in his pockets.

"C'mon..." Shikamaru checked the clock in the window. It was five til.

"Hey! Shika!" Shikamaru turned around.

Temari was dressed in a white and gray dress now, her normal sandals replaced with lighter ones. Her hair was down, and she carried a small bag.

"T...Temari?" Shikamaru's heart sped back up.

"What? Didn't think I would dress up?" she asked, spinning around, her hair flowing.

"Um...you look great..." Temarui blushed, then smiled.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." she said. Shikamaru offered her his arm.

"Well? Shall we?" Temari's smiled broadened.

"Yes." Temari slipped her arm through his and they started off.

"Shh!"

"But why do we have to follow those two anyway?" Chouji asked, as he grabbed a few chips from the bag and popped them into his mouth. Ino smirked.

"Because if he succedes in giving Temari a good time, then I can teach even that Naruto a thing or two about dating!" she said, pumping her fist into the air, which collided with Chouji's precious bag of chips. "INO! THOSE WERE MINE!"

"You need to lose weight anyway, Chubby."

"At least YOU call me Chubby...TT"

_**Yeah, it was going along a bit fast, but I had to get it all down before it basically got sucked back into that abyss I call my mind. I can never seem to remember anything I lose to that place. Oh, wel. I hope you enjoyed it! And if you have been reading other stories from here and Fictionpress by me, I know, it's been a while since I tried to update any of those. My Internet has been gone for a while. BUT I GOT IT BACK! BOOYA! (ahem...)**_


	2. Chapter 2

Shikamaru and Temari decided to have dinner at a well-known restraunt not far from the Hokage's office.

Shikamaru's eyes scanned the crowd, looking for anybody he knew. He saw Neji and Tenten sitting in a corner, Tenten smiling as Neji spoke to her. Sakura and Lee were laughing at something, and looked happy to be there. Naruto and Hinata were sitting at a table not too far from where Shikamaru and Temari were seated, Naruto and Hinata staring into each others eyes.

"Wow, I guess everyone's here tonight." Temari said, pushing a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah." A waitress walked up to them, and they placed their orders. For Shikamaru, a simple bowl of ramen and sweet rice dumplings. For Temari, it was miso soup. Both ordered green tea.

"You know, for someone who's so lazy, you sure know how to treat a girl to dinner, Shika-kun." Temari said, sipping her tea.

"What's with the whole Shika-kun thing? I htought I was Crybaby Nara to you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well...I can't call my date an unappropriate name, now can I? Besides, I think Shika-kun fits you better." Shikamaru smirked.

"Heh." Temari smiled.

"And that look suits you well. Since when did you want to put your hair down?" Shikamaru patted his hair.

"I dunno. Just thought I'd give it a try."

"At least you don't look like a pineapple anymore." Temari said.

"I'm suprised he's still here!" Chouji said, munching on more of his chips, which he had replaced before trailing Shikamaru.

"Tell me about it...I know he's got smarts, but I didn't know he had a little dating ettiquette in him." Ino said, sipping her tea.

Shikamaru looked up at Temari. Now that he took a closer look, she was actually rather beautiful. Unlike the tomboyish facade she normally wore, she now looked more like a someone other than Gaara's older sister.

"So, how's Gaara and Kankuro?" Shikamaru asked. Temari shrugged.

"Oh, they're fine. Gaara's been catching up on the load of paperwork for next year's Chunnin exams. I heard you were going to be a proctor this year."

"Yeah, I'm going to be looking after the final round of the exam."

"Oh, that's so cool."

The conversation about the exams turned to past memories. Then that turned to stories about their childhood.

"So you actually tried to be a little like Naruto?" Shikamaru nodded.

"Keh. I ended up getting one hell of a scalding from Dad." Shikamaru said. Temari's eyes wandered around the room.

"You know...we've known each other for at least three years, right?"

"Hn? Oh, yeah. Why?" Temari held up her hand, then put four of her fingers down.

"In the first year we knew each other, we wound up fighting each other in the Chunnin exams. The second and third years have been professional. You know, desicisions about the alliance between our villages, the lines we can and can't cross...and now we're on a date. How big of a change is that?" Temari said, putting up fingers as she listed the years they had known each other, then pointing at the third finger.

"It's a big step, I guess."

Temari and Shikamaru left the restraunt not too long after their conversation, Temari laughing at an old memory that Shikamaru had shared with her.

"Hey, the sun's almost down." Temari said, looking up at the skyline. Shikamaru smirked.

"Hey, remember where you found me this afternoon?" Temari nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's head up there. Trust me, you'll love it." Temari shrugged, then spread out her fan (how she had gotten ahold of it, Shikamaru didn't know).

"Hang on, it's going to be a little rough." Temari said, as Shikamaru and Temari knelt down on the fan, which shook as it lefted off from the ground, and began to move away from the strreet and into the air. Shikamaru closed his eyes. For some odd reason, he felt free, and the air rushing by him, with Temari at his side, made him realize that something had clicked between them. _Could it really be _me _falling for her...? And why? Why all of a sudden...? _Temari's fan began its decent, and landed with a soft thump on the tower that Shikamaru had been cloudgazing from earlier that day.

"Oh, wow..." Temari was looking out to the west, the sun beginning to set as they stepped off of the fan. Shikamaru sat down at the edge of the roof, Temari joining him.

"I come here every evening. It's peaceful." Shikamaru said. Temari stared out at the sun.

"It's so beautiful...We don't get sunsets like this in my village..." she said, leaning against Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shika-kun?" Shikamaru looked down at Temari.

"Hm?" Temari looked up at him.

"Thanks…You really aren't that bad of a guy…And…well…" Temari smiled.

"You'd make some woman very happy someday…" Shikamaru gave her a soft smile.

"I already have." Shikamaru leaned in and kissed Temari gently on the lips.

"Holy crap!" Ino said, her jaw dropping.

"Holy mackerel! Mmm…fish…" Chouji ate the last of his chips.

Shikamaru and Temari found themselves in the air again, this time with Temari in Shikamaru's arms.

"I had fun tonight…Maybe we can do this again?" Temari asked, drawing Shikamaru's arms closer to her.

"Yeah. Maybe it'll replace cloud-watching. For a while." Temari giggled and kissed his hand.

"I love you, you pineapple head."

"Heh, same to you, troublesome woman."__


End file.
